Many business leaders say
a commitment to work-life
balance is crucial to getting the
most out of their employees
BY M I C H A E L M C E L R OY | P H O T O G R A P H Y BY B E T H M A N N

R

OBBIE ALLEN
and his team
at Infinia ML,
who spend their
days teaching
machines how
to learn, are
pioneers of the
“future of work”
– the widely
accepted idea
that workforce
paradigms are
shifting and that businesses
will have to adapt to stay
relevant.
Artificial intelligence is
certainly one of the disruptors
driving these shifts, Allen
said. But he thinks Infinia, a
data science company that
helps businesses incorporate
AI technology, is aiding
the transition in another
crucial way – one that is
quintessentially human.

Allen, the company’s CEO,
said that Infinia offers its
38 employees a convivial
atmosphere. It provides a
purpose and free coffee. And it
insists its workers take time off
to recharge. The future of work
is also the future of perks.
The 2016 National Study
of Employers, a nearly 20year study of the “practices,
policies, programs and benefits
provided by U.S. employers,”
found that employees measure
an effective workplace across
several categories, including
learning opportunities, job
autonomy and flexibility. The
final category is among the
most popular, especially with
working parents with a sick kid
at home. It is also fundamental
to a younger generation who
sees work-life balance as less
of a perk, and more of an
entitlement.

84 • durhammag.com • August 2019

Drew Schiller, right, co-founder and CEO of the health care
software company Validic, shares a beer with staff at their
office in The Chesterfield downtown.
The findings, however, also
suggest a national workforce
caught between the future and
business as usual.
From 2012 to 2016, the study
showed, the percentage of
companies allowing employees
to work from home on a
regular basis rose from 33% to
40%. But, the percentage of
employers allowing workers
to take time during the day to
attend to family needs fell from
87% to 81%.
Most notably, the percentage
of companies showing
“support for flexible work
arrangements,” fell from

31% in 2005 to 14% in 2016,
a “surprising finding” the
researchers wrote, “given how
much talk [there has been
in the media over the last
decade] about the need to
increase flexibility.”
But these are national
numbers across disparate
industries, some of which are
far less receptive to change. In
Durham, the momentum is well
on its way.
A ready pool of highly skilled
talent here is a chief reason
why Durham was largely
spared the worst parts of the
2008 recession, which the